Grass-catcher.



' A. B. MEYER.

cuss GATOHER, APPLICATION FILED OUT. 13,1910.

Patented June 27,1911.

IIIIIIHIHI are ADOLPH E. MEYER, 0F WEBSTER GROVES, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TOZITTLOSEN MANU- FACTURING 00., OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

GRASS-CATCHER.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLPH E. MEYER, a citizen of the United States,residing at l/Vebster Groves, in the county of St. Louis, State ofMissouri, have invented a new and useful Grass-Catcher, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in receptacles popularly known asgrass catchers; and, among others, its objects are to afford areceptacle of the character described whose frames, while freelycollapsible rearwardly, are positively prevented from falling forwardand contacting with the wheels and blades of the mower to the damage ofthe latter as well as the catcher, and to afford a novel, effective, andinexpensive means whereby the catcher may be readily adapted for useupon mowers of all usual widths. These desiderata, and others which willbecome apparent hereafter and from a consideration of the appendedclaims, are attained through the peculiar features of constructionhereinafter described in detail and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout.

Figure 1 is a perspective of my completed receptacle; Fig. 2 a detailView, on slightly enlarged scale, of the means for preventing the framesfrom falling forward; and Fig. 3 depicts, in enlarged detail, thedevices used in attaching and adjusting the catcher to a mower.

For simplicity of description my complete device may be said to compriseseven (7) individual elements, to wit :an upper frame; a lower frame; afloor or bottom mounted upon said lower frame; an adjustable lip formedof the margin of said floor adjacent the mower; opposed front stays,rising at a right angle from a rod supporting and protecting the frontmargin of said floor and hingedly engaging said upper frame; devicesprolonged from the opposite forward extremities of said lower frame; andpeculiarly shaped hooks designed for engagement to the side plates ofthe mower and cooperating with said devices to support the catcher. Saidupper and lower frames consist simply of two lengths of suitablematerial, preferably wire, which are bent to form an upper rear bar 1and a lower rear bar 2, and upper side rods 3 and lower side rods 4.Disposed in rear bar 1 is an eyelet Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 13, 1910.

Patented June 27, 1911. Serial No. 586,895.

5, locking in definite position supporting member 5", at the forwardends of side rods 3 are horizontally disposed eyelets 6; at the freeends of front stays 7 are provided downstruck eyelets 8; while theforward extremities of side rods 4: are coiled to afford a comparativelywide loop 9, from which are prolonged arms 10.

In practice I provide, as a feature of this grass catcher, hooks 12,having a portion 13 bent at a right angle to the remainder and providedwith an elongated slot 14 for the entrance of bolts used upon all mowersfor adjustably securing the hangers for the ground-roller. The advantagegained by the use of my form of hook lies in the fact that, inconjunction with arms 10, there is secured a range of adjustment of four(4) or more inches enabling the use of this catcher on any mower now inuse or on sale. For example, these catchers, like others, are ordinarilymade 17 inches in width and a purchaserof one of them may find that hismower is only 13 inches from side to side, whereupon a perfect fit maybe readily made by simply bending each of arms 10 inwardly about 1 inchand attaching hooks 12 so that their portion 13 is directed outwardlywith referenceto the side plates of the mower. Said portion of each ofsaid hooks being, usually, 1 inch in depth there is thus effected anincrease in the width of the mower frame of 2 inches, the remainingdeficiency of 2 inches being met by the inward bend of arms 10 to engagewith said hooks, as aforesaid. Should it happen, as it may, that themower is wider than the style of this catcher sold in a particularlocality, then the disposition of portion 13 of hooks 12 is re versed,c. said portion is directed inwardly with reference to the mower frameand arms 10 of the catcher proper are bent outwardly effecting anydesired degree of adjustment. Moreover, by loosening the aforesaidroller adjusting bolts of the mower hooks 12 may be moved backward orforward by reason of the presence therein of slot 14, and thus lip 15 ofthe floor of the catcher may be brought close to or moved away from theroller.

To the formation of lip 15 considerable importance is attached. Themetal of the floor is sharply rebent upon itself and brought completelyover rod 16, the latter forming the basis of stays 7, and thencedirected upwardly and outwardly and extended considerably beyond thevertical plane of rod 16. Thus I provide at once a means for insuringthe retention of the particles of grass within the catcher while thesame is in use or being carried in the hand and an additional means forbringing the forward end of the receptacle into minute juxtaposition tothe ground-roller, the idea of use being to depress or elevate said lip,by bending the same with the fingers.

An additional feature, and one to which I attach considerableimportance, lies in the fact, before mentioned, that the frame of thiscatcher cannot fall forward, although freely collapsible rearwardly.This desiderat'um is secured not only by the peculiar manner of formingand of connecting eyelets 6 and 8, but, also, by the correlation of aportion of loop 9 and the parts of rod 16 adjacent thereto. As depictedin Fig. 2 eyelets 6 are so formed with reference to the normal positionof side rods 3 as to be horizontally disposed, while the normal positionof down-struck eyelets 8 is vertical, and while there is ampleaccommodation for forward bend 6 of eyelets 6 in the angle 8 of eyelets8 it is apparent, upon reference to the drawing, that forward collapseof the frame is rendered physically impossible. But, as a furtheradvantage and acting as a reinforcement of the hinged connection ofeyelets just described, rod 16 is given a formation 16 as it emergesfrom beneath lip 15 and just before the provision of front stays 7, asclearly depicted in Fig. 2, and in actual practice upon the inclinationof said stays to fall toward the mower blades portion 16 contacts withportion 9 of loops 9 and further movement is halted.

I am quite well aware, as one skilled in the art, that it is not new toprovide the forward portion of grass catchers with devices designed tobe forcibly'bent from side to side in order to adapt the catcher tomowers of different widths, and, also, that separate hooks have beenprovided, some of which are capable of forward or rearward adjustmentand engaging eyelets or other suitable contrivances upon the catcherproper, but in addition to the fact that arms 10 of my invention are notliable to displacement from their original desired position when, as isusual, the front portion of the catcher is struck upon the ground inorder to jar loose the grass contained therein, I am not aware that myother improvements, afore particularly described and to be pointed outin the following claims, have been anticipated.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. An article of the class described comprising a' receptacle andseparate hooks engaging a lawn mower and cooperating in the support ofsaid receptacle, said receptacle comprising a frame whose oppositeportions normally adjacent the lawn mower are formed into wide loops,hooked arms prolonged from said loops, said arms adapted to freevertical and lateral movement, said loops being substantiallyhorizontally disposed, the portion of said hooks supporting saidreceptacle being arranged at right angles to their portion engaging saidmower, whereby mowers of various widths may be adapted to differentwidths of grass catchers, substantially as described.

2. An article of the class described comprising a collapsible receptacleand separate hooks engaging a lawn mower and cooperating in the supportof said receptacle, said receptacle comprising a frame whose oppositeportions normally adjacent the lawn mower are formed into wide loops,hooked arms prolonged from said loops, said arms adapted to freevertical and lateral movement, said loops being substantiallyhorizontally disposed, the portion of said hooks supporting saidreceptacle being arranged at right angles to their portion engaging saidmower, whereby mowers of various widths may be adapted to differentwidths of grass catchers, and means whereby said receptacle is preventedfrom forwardly collapsing, substantially as described.

3. An article of the class described comprising a receptacle andseparate hooks engaging a lawn mower and cooperating in the support ofsaid receptacle, said receptacle comprising a frame whose oppositeportions normally adjacent the lawn mower are formed into wide loops,hooked arms prolonged from said loops, said arms adapted to freevertical and lateral movement, said loops being substantiallyhorizontally disposed, the portion of said hooks supporting saidreceptacle being arranged at right angles to their portion engaging saidmower, whereby mowers of various widths may be adapted to differentwidths of grass catchers, and a flexible member prolonged from saidreceptacle and normally extending over the roller of the mower,substantially as described.

4;. An article of the class described comprising a collapsiblereceptacle and separate hooks engaging a lawn mower and cooperating inthe support of said receptacle, said receptacle comprising a frame whoseopposite portions normally adjacent the lawn mower are formed int-o wideloops, hooked arms prolonged from said loops, said arms adapted to freevertical and lateral movement, said loops being substantiallyhorizontally disposed, the portion of said hooks supporting saidreceptacle being arranged at right angles to their portion engaging saidmower, whereby mowers of various widths may be adapted to differentwidths of grass catchers, a flexible member prolonged from i m4 is, in,U

- longed from said loops, said arms adapted said receptacle and normallyextending over the roller of the mower, and means whereby saidreceptacle is prevented from forwardly collapsing, substantially asdescribed.

5. An article of the class described comprising a receptacle andseparate hooks engaging a lawn mower and cooperating in the supportofsaid receptacle, said receptacle comprising an upper, a lower, and anintermediate frame, wide loops disposed in one of said frames, hookedarms prolonged from said loops, said arms adapted to free lateral andvertical movement, said loops being substantially horizontally disposed,the portion of said hooks supporting said receptacle being arranged atright angles to their portion engaging said mower, whereby mowers ofvarious widths may be adapted to different widths of grass catchers,substantially as described.

6. An article of the class described comprising a collapsible receptacleand separate hooks engaging a lawn mower and co6perating in the supportof said receptacle, said receptacle comprising an upper, a lower, and anintermediate frame, wide loops disposed in one of said frames, hookedarms proto free lateral and vertical movement, said loops beingsubstantially horizontally disposed, the portion of said hookssupporting said receptacle being arranged at right angles to theirportion engaging said mower, whereby mowers of various widths may beadapted to difierent widths of grass catchers, and means whereby saidreceptacle is prevented from forwardly collapsing, substantially asdescribed.

7 An article of the class described comprising'a receptacle and separatehooks engaging a lawn mower and cooperating in the support of saidreceptacle, said receptacle comprising an upper, a lower, and anintermediate frame, wide loops disposed in one of said frames, hookedarms prolonged from said loops, said arms adapted to free vertical andlateral movement, said loops being substantially horizontally disposed,the portion of said hooks supporting said receptacle being arranged atright angles to their portion engaging said mower, whereby mowers ofvarious widths may be adapted to different widths of grass catchers, anda flexible member prolonged from said receptacle and normally extendingover the roller of the mower, substantially as described.

8. An article of the class described comprising a collapsible receptacleand separate hooks engaging a lawn mower and cooperating in the supportof said receptacle, said receptacle comprising an upper, a lower, and anintermediate frame, wide loops disposed in one of said frames, hook-edarms prolonged from said loops, said arms adapted to free lateral andvertical movement, said loops being substantially horizontally disposed,the portion of said hooks supporting said receptacle being arranged atright angles to their portion engaging said mower,whereby mowers ofvarious widthsmay be adapted to difierent widths of grass catchers, aflexible member prolonged from said receptacle and normally extendingover the roller of the mower, and means whereby said receptacle isprevented from forwardly collapsing, substantially as described.

ADOLPH E. MEYER.

Witnesses:

JAMES E. GARsTANs, ERNEST H. ScHoL'rz.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C.

